Panel Stitching is Complete

The next stages in the building are complete!

I hung some slings from the rafters in my shop and used them to hold the bilge panels in place.  I then slid the bottom panel into place and began attaching the panels to the transom and to each other.

Not much to tell here.  Shall let the photos show what I have done.

I have also been investigating buoyancy for the boat as the design doesn't call for any.

I wrote a note to Jim Michalak for advice and he has yet to answer.  I visited small boat building sites and discovered it is not difficult to design my own.  So, here is what I have calculated.  Roughly.

There are bulkheads four feet from each end of the boat.  If I close off both of them, from the bottom of the boat to the transom, that would provide an astounding 704lbs of reserve buoyancy to the boat!

If I were to make the front and the rear buoyancy compartments only platforms that go from the floor of the boat to the chine, that would provide only 204lbs of reserve buoyancy to the boat.

If I were to make the compartments low, like a sitting platform, for half of each area and the part closest to the end go all the way to the deck level of the boat, those volumes would provide a respectable 350lbs of reserve buoyancy to the boat.  That amount of reserve would allow the boat, if swamped, to ride high enough in the water to support a person's weight while bailing out the boat.

Whether the hull shape would be stable enough to keep from rolling over is beyond me until I get it in the water, but I do know the boat will have plenty of emergency buoyancy plus a seat for a passenger in the stern, plus a seat for the rower at the front, when the passenger's weight needs the rower to move forward to balance.

Next stage is to mix up some epoxy and start gluing the boat together.

On with the picture show!